Central region’s Term 3 professional development event saw us descend upon Whanganui Intermediate School’s library.

After the travellers had fuelled up on coffee, Miriam Tuohy (with a little help from clicker-gurl, Sandi Faulconbridge) talked us through her “Dream Library Collection” and how we could build our own. Key points were that building good collections is actually time consuming, but to remember that collection development is only a PART of our job, and PEOPLE should be at the heart of what we do. As usual, much discussion was provoked throughout the presentation and we are hopeful that this will translate into positive actions across the region.

Cathie Calman then allowed us to nosey through her beautiful library, answered our copious questions, and graciously accepted our envious comments. Thank you, Cathie, for hosting our event - we are grateful to have accommodating members throughout our region that allow us to “spread the word” in different locations.

Next we visited the library of Sue Goldsbury and Linda Lamb at Whanganui High School. This big, bright, airy space encouraged more envy. Many of us were particularly taken with the gallery of student artworks. Display ideas will definitely be appropriated and I, for one, was overwhelmed by the fantastic condition of the book stock!

A big thank you again, Sue and Linda, for taking time out of your weekends to allow a group of “curious” librarians to roam in your space. Feedback from participants tells us that it is these opportunities where a lot of learning takes place and we appreciate that we could not do it without the support of our members. The day ended with a casual lunch at a local cafe. As usual, there was lots of sharing, laughter and discussion of plans for world domination - or school domination, at the very least! Thanks to all those who travelled from near and far to join us in our day. We love the fact that you make the commitment to do that in your own time - and it is always so energising spending time with you all.

A 'Virtual Tour' of our day will be up on the Google+ community soon. Thank you to Cathie and Sue for giving us permission to photograph your fabulous spaces and allow us to share these images on the SLANZA community.​